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(NewsNation) — On the heels of the sad death of Liam Payne, the former One Direction star who, after leaving the band, devolved into drug and alcohol addiction and mental chaos — and fans have had enough — calling for changes within the music industry.
A new Change.org petition aims to do just that.
Petition calls for ‘Liam’s Law’ after Liam Payne’s death
A petition calling for “Liam’s Law” notes: “We need new laws to protect children and adults in the public eye, especially those in the entertainment industry. The tragic passing of Liam Payne on 16th October 2024 highlights the urgent need for comprehensive safeguarding measures for individuals facing immense pressures in their careers.”
The petition calls for better mental health safeguards (during and after fame), regular medication checks and oversight of entertainment companies (among other things). Noting: “There should be regular audits of entertainment companies to ensure compliance with safeguarding regulations, guaranteeing proper support for individuals in the public eye.”
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FILE – Liam Payne performs during the first day of BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend at Singleton Park, in Swansea, Wales, May 26, 2018. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP, File) -
Singer Liam Payne attends the World Premiere of “I Am Bolt” at Odeon Leicester Square on November 28, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) -
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 06: Liam Payne performs during WE Day UK 2019 at The SSE Arena on March 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) -
FILE – One Direction’s Liam Payne, second from right, poses for a photo with fellow band members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London, Sept. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File)
But does it go far enough?
It’s sadly surprising these days when a child or teen star raised in the Hollywood machine doesn’t develop a drug and alcohol problem — and while millions are made off the back of these children and teens, after they’re done working, they’re often left to their own devices.
Child stars like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez in the spotlight
Stars like Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Shia Labeouf, Justin Bieber and others who may not have had strong parental support, grew up in the public eye – educated for three hours a day on set by tutors who report to the studios… and had massive issues once they went out on their own.
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Ashley Spencer, author of the new book “Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire” told me: “The bigger question around all of it is putting kids in an environment like this to begin with, which is extremely high pressure, which is first and foremost, a workplace business…. Disney is a business. All of this is a business. And so you put these teenagers in this situation, whether it’s at Disney, whether it’s at Nickelodeon, wherever it may be, and they’re going through this incredibly awkward time themselves, and suddenly they’re having to perform for millions of people, have fans, have the pressure of the media, and then also, yes, you are coming into wealth and access and all that that entails. And so I think we do see issues of substance abuse, and you know, various psychological issues happening at higher rates among young stars… And then with Disney itself, the pressures of being a Disney role model are impossible. You can’t really live up to that.”
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FILE – Selena Gomez takes part in the featured session “Mindfulness Over Perfection: Getting Real On Mental Health” at the Austin Convention Center during the South by Southwest Conference on Sunday, March 10, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Google.org, the technology giant’s philanthropic arm, is donating $1.25 million to Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund as part of its recent commitment to nonprofits focused on youth mental health. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File) -
FILE – Justin Bieber attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala on Sept. 13, 2021, in New York. Bieber leads the iHeartRadio Music Award nominations. Justin Bieber says a rare disorder that paralyzed half of the superstar performer’s face is the reason behind his tour postponement. The Grammy winner said he’s suffering from Ramsey Hunt syndrome in video he posed Friday, June 10, 2022 on Instagram. The syndrome causes facial paralysis and affects nerves in the face through a shingles outbreak.(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) -
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 19: Demi Lovato attends the 2017 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 19, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
And while there is some support while the children work, once they are done with the show, the studio is often done with them.
And the pressure is worse as there is usually not a normal friend group to help the stars through this.
“If you grow up on sets and you’re in this adult world, and the way you relate to other kids is different, right?” Spencer said. “And so even if you’re friends with other kids on set, you’re all working. You’re not self selecting that friend group, either. Yours are there because you have chemistry on this show, not because you’re compatible as people.”
And stage parents are often an impediment to intellectual and emotions growth.
“You do see that often where the parents get jealous of the other kids getting more lines,” Spencer said. “The parents are upset when another child outshines their own. And so you have the the involvement of all of these parties around a young kid, and also their careers, and then also, of course, learners and producers weighing in on this, and what would be a normal friendship dynamic, or falling out at a middle school where one day you’re just no longer speaking, and you stop and go your separate ways.”
Impacts of being a child star
And often the more popular or titular character on the show will keep their job, while the other actor will be brutally discarded. Like with the case of Lalaine Vergaras-Paras on “Lizzie McGuire.”
“Hilary Duff and Lalaine on Lizzie McGuire were incredibly close friends (on the show) at first,” Spencer said.
Until the two had a falling out
“The people that I spoke to said that they were very upset that Lalaine got to sing on the show first, because Hillary wanted to sing,” Spencer said. “And basically that escalated to the point where neither party, Lalaine and her team and Hillary and her team could work with each other, and Lalaine left the show six episodes early and didn’t appear in the ‘Lizzie McGuire’ movie. And so that’s a case where you have what would just be a normal kid dynamic, right, dictating a career. And obviously you see the way that Hillary Duff’s career flourished in the immediate aftermath, and Lalaine kind of stepped to the side, that had profound effects on both of their lives.”
(Lalaine narrates the audiobook of “Disney High”).
Spencer notes this is not the only case where this happened and said: “(Some) of the girls who kind of got the short end of the stick, and a lot of them haven’t gotten over it, because that was their life.
“For someone like Lalaine, or, you know, a lot of the kids on these shows, that was their most famous role, that’s what people remember them for and what they’ll post photos of on Instagram and make accounts dedicated to these characters that they played when they were 12 and 13. You can never really move on from it and you had a negative experience, or if there was some tension, that’s, you know, I would imagine eternally percolating behind the scenes and brought up whenever someone shows you this picture of you at 12, you remember all the other stuff that was going on. So, yeah, I think that would be so hard to to spend the rest of your life being associated with (that).”
And once the children leave the show — not unlike when Payne left One Direction, the studio backs off.
“These networks are not a public service,” Spencer said. “They’re not here to do community service — it’s a business.”
While some programs have been developed where studios will teach parents about investing and finances, it’s too little too late.
And many siblings of famous people like Elizabeth Olsen (sister to Mary Kate and Ashley), who saw their siblings being sexualized as a child, refused to start acting until they turned 18 and attended college.